Tag: today

Forgot to submit this in the morning, but hopefully it can still help some people

Alaska primary

Note that Alaska has partially open primaries, which means that each political party can choose whether or not to allow unaffiliated voters or voters not registered with the party to participate in their primary. The Republican Party in Alaska is only registered Republicans to vote in their primary, while the Democratic Party, the Libertarian Party and the Alaskan Independence Party are all allowing any registered voter to vote in their primaries.

Below are candidates from our BKAS series that have progressive values. In general, the list contains candidates who have Bernie-like positions – Medicare-for-All, increased minimum wage, getting money out of politics, free college tuition, etc. However, not every candidate may support every position Bernie has. If you don’t know the candidate, check out their linked webpage. If you are not comfortable voting for any of these candidates, you can find others running in these races listed on the Green Papers or Ballotpedia for US House or Ballotpedia for Governor. Note, that there is no US Senate race in Alaska this year. Also, here is the link to the BKAS post on Alaska – Alaska, but note that it was written way back in mid July of 2017 and candidates have changed since then. Check the Green Papers or Ballotpedia links above for the most up-to-date list of candidates in your district. The list below includes all the up-to-date candidates that have declared.

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Governor:

There is one Democratic candidate former US Senator Mark Begich and one independent candidate, current Governor Bill Walker. Walker doesn’t have any information about his policy positions on his website, so it’s difficult to know where he stands. Begich says he’s willing to consider a universal healthcare system for Alaska, which would combine people covered under Medicaid, Medicare, Tri-care, and Indian Health Service as well as people not currently covered into one system. He also promises to protect the Permanent Fund, work for universal pre-K education and work to achieve 50% renewable energy in Alaska by 2025.

US Senator:

There is no US Senate race in Alaska this year.

US Representatives:

AK-AL: The incumbent is Republican Don Young, who recently back-tracked on supporting net neutrality. Democrats Christopher Cumings, Carol Hafner and Dmitri Shein all support Medicare-for-All. But note that Hafner does not live in Alaska and I believe had not even traveled to Alaska when she filed to run as the Alaskan US Representative. It's not clear why she is running for the Alaska representative. Maybe she just thinks she could be a good representative, who can help people. Alternatively, she just wants a position with power and thinks this may be a good way to get elected. She did an AMA on r/politics that you can check out if you want. I think Shein is the strongest progressive candidate.

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Secretary of State:

There is no Secretary of State in Alaska. Elections are overseen by the Alaska Division of Elections, which is under the control of the Lieutenant Governor’s office.

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Attorney General:

The Attorney General is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Legislature.

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Also, here are Ballotpedia links for other State-level races. I haven’t had time to research these candidates, so you’ll have to do your own research on them.

State Senate:

https://ballotpedia.org/Alaska_State_Senate_elections,_2018

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State House:

https://ballotpedia.org/Alaska_House_of_Representatives_elections,_2018

I mostly don’t research state-level races, because of lack of time. However, I did want to mention Ed Alexander in District 6, who is a strong progressive. He's running in the largest (by area) Congressional district in the United States. It is a huge area to cover in meeting constituents. Help him out by canvassing (if you're in his district) or phonebanking. Or throw him a few dollars to get his name out to his constituents.

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Wyoming primary

Note that Wyoming has partially open primaries, which means that voters will be asked which party's primary they want to vote in, when they get to the polls.

Below are candidates from our BKAS series that have progressive values. In general, the list contains candidates who have Bernie-like positions – Medicare-for-All, increased minimum wage, getting money out of politics, free college tuition, etc. However, not every candidate may support every position Bernie has. If you don’t know the candidate, check out their linked webpage. If you are not comfortable voting for any of these candidates, you can find others running in these races listed on the Green Papers or Ballotpedia for US Senate, Ballotpedia for US House or Ballotpedia for Governor. Also, here is the link to the BKAS post on Wyoming – Wyoming, but note that it was written way back in mid-September of 2017 and candidates will have changed since then. Check the Green Papers or Ballotpedia links above for the most up-to-date list of candidates in your district. The list below includes candidates that have declared since those original Wyoming posts were made.

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Governor:

Though there are technically 4 Democratic candidates for governor, only one of them Mary Trone has a website. However, her website really doesn’t have details on the policies she supports.

US Senator:

Gary Trauner is the only Democrat running. He supports getting healthcare to everyone, though he didn’t talk about a specific plan or mention Medicare-for-All. Republican candidate Dave Dodson also is a pretty good candidate. He has a strong platform on reducing prescription drug prices and he wants to reduce the influence of money in politics by campaign finance reform.

US Representatives:

WY-AL: Travis Helm or Greg Hunter. If you’re voting Republican, Rod Miller seems to be significantly more moderate than Liz Cheney

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Secretary of State:

There is only one Democratic candidate for Secretary of State, Jim Byrd, but his website has no detail on the policies he’d support.

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Also, here are Ballotpedia links for the Wyoming State House and State Senate races. I haven’t had time to research these candidates, so you’ll have to do your own research on them. Unfortunately, quite a few have incumbents that are unopposed.

State Senate:

https://ballotpedia.org/Wyoming_State_Senate_elections,_2018

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State House:

https://ballotpedia.org/Wyoming_House_of_Representatives_elections,_2018

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Finally, I may have missed some candidates, so if anyone else knows of a good progressive I’ve left off this list, let me know.